The Church of England’s bureaucracy has forgotten its mission
by Sarah Ingham, Conservative Home:
Polly and Gerald entered a packed church last weekend, delighting the congregation which was celebrating Palm Sunday. Trampling on the palm fronds scattered across the aisle, the two donkeys behaved impeccably as they brought to life Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem. In contrast, on this Good Friday, the mood in the church today is fittingly sombre and reflective.
Few Church of England churches are as blessed as this one: three services on Sunday, a Director of Music who commands a superb choir, and the active support of parishioners who are C of E, not just C and E (Christmas and Easter).
This Church of England reflects the nation through the centuries. A building in its different forms has been on the site for 700 years, giving today’s visitors a perspective on their own troubles. A few years ago, the genteel tussle over the choice of the new vicar, with an alleged intervention by the aristocrat who had the living, could have been chronicled by Anthony Trollope.
Readings are from the King James Version of the Bible; services follow the Book of Common Prayer, which, like Shakespeare is engrained in our language (“Peace in our time”).
This particular church, however, is hardly typical of the Church of England, once perceived as the Conservative Party at prayer. But, like too many in the Conservative officer class, their Church equivalents now appear to be lacking confidence in their institution’s core values and mission.
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